Timeline:  Monday, April 5th – Overview of Assignment and Brainstorming Wednesday, April 7th – Share three possible ideas for your research paper topic on the blog before our Zoom session.  Monday, April 12th – Review of Proposals (This includes possible ideas for the Creative Re-Mix)  Wednesday, April 21st – Drafts Due Monday, April 26th – Conferences Wednesday, April 28th – Review of Proposal for Creative Re-Mix  Sunday, May 2nd – Research Paper Due   Wednesday, May 12th – Presentation of Creative Re-Mix Projects Monday, May 17th – Presentation of Creative Re-Mix Project

 

Analytical Research Paper

 

6-8 pages, 12pt type, double-spaced, with one-inch margins

 

This is an analytical research paper.  This means that you will not simply be collecting information about your topic; you will also be interpreting your research findings and drawing conclusions about your topic.

 

Topics:  Your first task is to come up with a topic for your research paper.  Your topic must be connected in some way to our semester’s broad theme of FOOD.  On Wednesday, April 7th, be prepared to share three possible topics during our Zoom session.  As you select your topic, keep the following questions in mind:

–Is this an interesting topic?  It’s particularly important that the topic genuinely interest you!

–Can I find adequate sources to research this topic?

— Is this a topic that will yield analysis, rather than simply the reporting of information?

–Is this topic either too broad or too narrow for a paper of this length?

Research Proposal:  Before our class meeting on Monday, April 12th,  you will submit your Research Proposal in writing by uploading it to our Google Doc Folder, either in the form of a one-paragraph articulation of the topic, a traditional outline, or some combination of those two formats.   You should be able to express your topic in terms of a single question that will guide your research.  Then think about the writing of the paper as an effort to answer your research question.   

Sources: In writing this paper, you must employ a minimum of four sources.   You will cite your sources in accordance with the MLA guidelines (8th Edition).  We will be reviewing the guidelines together in class, and you will receive more detailed instructions about using and citing sources.  Think broadly about what constitutes a “source.”  This could include audio, video, blog posts, personal interviews, and other non-traditional source formats.  The sources you end up using in your research paper will be listed in a Works Cited page at the end of the paper, using MLA formatting guidelines.  At least one of your sources must be a source you access via  the Newman Library’s databases.  (Our goal here is to move away from Google as your primary research strategy!)

  

Creative Re-Mix

At the same time that you are researching your topic and writing your analytical research paper, you should also be thinking about how you want to present your topic in your “creative re-mix”. The re-mix project gives you an opportunity to explore your subject in a more creative, subjective, or personal way.  It’s up to you to decide what form your re-mix should take and how it should relate to your research paper.  Your Research Paper and Creative Re-Mix should be related, but not identical.  This is NOT about creating a powerpoint presentation that summarizes your research; it’s about producing a creative project that complements your research.

 Some possible formats you might consider for the creative re-mix are:

Comic strip/cartoon

Blog

Video

Photo essay

Creative writing (short story, poetry, song)

Visual art

Interview

Interactive map

Timeline

Social Media Based Project

Podcast

Oral History

Community Service Project

 

You will be presenting your Creative Re-Mix to the class during our last two sessions on Wed., May 12th and Mon., May 17th. We will pick numbers from a hat (or the virtual equivalent)  to determine the order of the presentations.